“Mark Buehrle was a pillar of this franchise. He was a cornerstone, he was here for a long time. He came out of nowhere. He was a 38th round draft choice. He did everything we ever asked for him. He caught all the first pitches, he threw a perfect game, a no-hitter. Anytime you needed him to go to a school or a hospital, or whatever, Mark Buehrle was always there. But the fact is at his age, it didn’t make sense for us to do what the Marlins were prepared to do for him. So he went, certainly with my blessing. I spoke to him and said, ‘You gotta take it. You gotta take this deal.’ And Mark said, ‘I’ll be back in 4 years.’”

Buehrle will be back? Is this meant to soothe Sox fans angry over Buehrle’s departure? Anyway, if the Sox won’t be competing in the immediate future, Buehrle’s talents would be wasted if he stayed here….